Time After
by greyrondo
Summary: Sequel to Time Will Tell. How far will Albel go to keep together a relationship that seems so destined to be forever apart? AlbelxFayt.
1. Chapter 1

After the catastrophe that ended Time Will Tell, Albel and Fayt finally admitted their love for one another. But their very existence is still in jeopardy until Luther's assistants return to 4D space. As usual, I don't own Star Ocean, and please read and review!!

Time After

Chapter One

I closed my eyes for a slight moment, and then opened them again as I rested my head against the clear pane that looked out into the easy emptiness of space. Being able to see that distance, to look off for forever with my gaze unhindered by the horizon: I could never become bored with that sight.

We had pursued the Justice for days. At least, if those endless stretches of time spent in space could have been called days. Rather they seemed like cycles of militaristic watch, spent with little regard to the natural order of day and night and marked only by periods of waking and sleep.

"Albel," a voice that betrayed the same exhaustion I only acknowledged, called to me as I sensed its owner's hands hook securely around my waist. "Do you think she's trying to kill us?"

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," I said without looking at him. But I did want him there; I let my right hand fall to match his. I doubted he would appreciate the same gesture from my left.

"You would say something like that," he sighed as I felt the press of his cheek against my shoulder blade. I allowed the tension in my shoulders to relax. Just enough, but I assumed he understood when he sighed tiredly.

"It's only your fault for expecting different," I chided him delicately. "Just as it's your own fault for not enforcing more control over your Destructive abilities."

"Easy for you to say. Yours won't manifest at all," he added. As if I needed reminding.

_"All right," the Incantatrix said as she swaggered into the cleared-out storage room. "I've established a control field, so you can unleash your power here without hurting the ship. Without even hurting me," she added._

_My eyes narrowed immediately. "Am I to assume that your companions have this ability as well…?" I wanted to know. What was the use of these Destructive abilities if they could be negated by simple foresight? And why, then, had that cursed Kriegsbringer been so careless?_

_But the Incantatrix shook her head. "No. That is something only I can do. But like I was saying—"_

_A fierce explosion rocked the hull; the Incantatrix ducked down instinctively, as did Fayt. I grounded my balance so I could keep standing, and my hand flew immediately to my blade: my own reflex._

_"The Justice?!" Fayt cried out, voicing our fears aloud. _

_"I don't—yes, I fear so!!" the Incantatrix shouted, rising. Runology—or symbology, whatever she chose to call it—sparked at her fingertips like white lightning. "So much for training," I heard her mutter. "I've dissipated the control field," she informed us. "Try not to destroy the ship if you unleash your powers," she said._

_Her words were pointless. Fayt could control his abilities as well as he could control his namesake, and I was still coming to terms with the fact that the strength I envied was now my own. _

_Having such raw power as one's disposal was all well and good, but untempered, it was worse than useless. Chance had saved us at the Mosel Ruins, and nothing else._

_I had never understood why Fayt's powers had decimated every structure and entity in the vicinity regardless of all distinction and reason, while mine had not even so much as bruised the boy. Was it…_

_The doors buckled with a blast. Unnecessary, I thought. I felt sure that the individual the Incantatrix treated as an enemy to be taken seriously would have no need for such ostentatious displays of force. _

_I had never seen the being called the Justice until now. She looked as cold and lifeless as the world she came from. But I had little time to spend contemplating her any longer—despite the Incantatrix's obvious presence, the Justice felt that I was the one to challenge first._

_In her palms appeared a halberd, its blade etched into the appearance of an angel's wing. Where were her servants, the Catharses I had heard so much of?_

_It was not until she pulled herself into a stiff fighting stance that I realized I had come to think of something entirely illogical, such as a weapon suddenly manifesting itself into existence, as little else but ordinary. _

_Nothing more than proof that my sword no longer had a place on that suffocating planet I had unfortunately been borne to._

_"Albel!!" Fayt called in distress, although I could not see why he was so fearful. Had he no faith in me?_

_Our blades clashed for an instant before I was thrown back. _

_I caught myself—I had been thrown with more force than that, before—and looked up in time to see the Incantatrix toss a bolt of runological energy at the Justice. Was she holding back? What in the name of Apris for?_

_I breathed in quickly. Something was building inside of me, white pain that I had felt before. Then I saw Fayt, safe for the moment, and the clenching pain subsided._

_He closed his eyes and an unnatural glow framed his small figure. There it was—the power of the Destruction gene._

_It was different this time, I could feel it. There was focus, purpose, direction. The intent to specifically bring that power upon our enemy._

_Why could I not do the same?I myself felt nothing. No power welling up inside of me, apart from that brief glimmer from the moment before._

_But then I forgot about my own maddening inadequacy. With a desperate cry, Fayt realized he had lost control._

_"All right! That's enough!!" the Incantatrix shouted out, and with a wave of her hand, the Justice, the crumpled door and sounds of chaos, all disappeared._

_Fayt blinked, and looked around in confusion. He staggered back on his feet just as I ran forward._

_The Incantatrix's illusion revealed itself as just that, and nothing more, as I used my own thin frame to steady Fayt's faltering balance. I pressed my lips to his hair—just for a moment—and then met the Incantatrix's hazel gaze._

_"I think that's enough for today," she said breathlessly. With a casual wave of her hand, the control field disappeared for real._

_"Wait, that was all…?" Fayt murmured, still disconcerted and, for the most part, unaware of his surroundings. I forced him to look up at me until I saw the color return to his face. Only then did I address the Incantatrix._

_"Why not continue?" I wanted to know._

_"I believe we made significant strides today," she defended herself with a confident, but weary, smile. "Fayt asserted some control, and we awakened yours, if only for a moment. We still don't what that trigger is, exactly, or why your power never manifests. Perhaps it's because you have a much higher tolerance for stress?" _

_ I wanted to laugh when she told me that. But I merely shook my head. "The Justice went right for me," I said. "That should have resulted in something or another."_

_"Did you feel afraid?" she asked. "Personal question, I realize, but fear is the primary trigger."_

_"Fear is useless in battle," I said then. "A commander can't afford to feel fear for himself."_

The press of Fayt's lips on mine bolted me hard and fast to the present. When had he moved?

I left him for a breath, and then tilted my head to reach him as his arms knotted around my shoulders. Smart boy—it was too tempting, too often, to push him to the wall and take him completely. But he was tired, and I wanted his supple waist more.

I took his sleepy kisses and returned them in kind. He sighed heavily as he worked his way into my arms, his body settling into mine. I wanted him so much, but I think Fayt knew that no matter what he said or how he kissed me, my mind would still feel ensnared by Elicoor II.

I could tell by the darkening of his eyes that he believed no amount of his affections could soothe the burn of my world on my skin or ease the guilt I felt from leaving my responsibilities in the hands of Helgrave and Jarvis.

I could pretend that I was more than glad to say goodbye, but he felt the truth whenever we touched.

His fingers spreading over the scarred skin of my chest, I reciprocated quickly. How could I convince him that no matter what guilt I felt, I would have died without him?

"I…" he began, his voice only a fatigued whisper. "I want…"

I laughed quietly against his throat. "Fayt, I don't believe you're strong enough for what I have in mind if you finish that sentence," I informed him as I tasted the skin above his pulse.

"But you weren't well last time we…"

Lifting my head, I pulled his gaze to mine as I pulled the rest of him closer. He was right—the last time, I had been neither physically nor psychologically well enough for what actually took place.

All the more reason for the voice of reason to come, for once, from me. But I knew that sometimes—rather, most times—I could see his confusion in his deep-hued emerald eyes. It hurt him when I pushed him further, only to draw back.

I wondered how long he could meet my eyes before the blush on his cheeks broke him, and then wove my fingers into his hair instead. No need to tease him—not tonight, at least.

Not when I had yet to hold him in my arms and accept the sensation as more than the warped product of a mind that was still likely insane.

"Albel?"

For the second time in the space of minutes, Fayt's voice had stolen me from my thoughts. Perhaps I was the wearier of the two of us.

"Fayt," I whispered, not quite sure what I had intended to say. Then I looked up, to see a slender figure darken the doorway.

"Do the both of you have no shame?" Maria asked us with little conviction. "I need you two up on the bridge; I'll meet you there in a moment. We need to talk. Now."

Demanding, demanding, our captain was. But typically not without purpose. She waited as we untangled ourselves, and then left, putting her faith in us to follow through with her request.

"You're sleeping tonight," I informed Fayt as we reported to the bridge, "and nothing more."

Who knew why Maria bothered giving the both of us separate rooms. If she was sparing anyone's feelings by the illusion, then the crew of the _Diplo_ could certainly argue that she was deluding no one.

Fayt was sulky as he walked ahead of me. He likely thought I was simply being irritable to taunt him. Which was slightly true, I supposed. But my arms still remembered when they had gripped his still body, what they had thought was his corpse. There was no need to tell him that was what I remembered when I held him; that our first true embrace was nearly our only.

When I held the boy in my arms as he rested, his faint breath misting my skin every time his chest fell, it was fair enough confirmation that he was here, as were his kisses. And then I would consider my dependency on the young man in my lazy embrace. Typically, a commander could not allow such a weakness. So much for that.

He would forgive me in an instant if I admitted that the reason was only my overprotective tendency in all matters concerning his well-being. Enough of these games—this night, I would tell him.


	2. Chapter 2

As usual, Star Ocean isn't mine. I'm debating whether to let Fayt speak or not, but I've gotten used to writing Albel. Please read and review!!

Chapter Two

"What's the meaning of this?" I demanded of Maria as soon as she had finished her rounds, gathering people to the bridge. I wondered why she had gone to the trouble of doing so personally when she had the convenience of that intercom invention at her command, but then I realized that the bridge had been cleared and our friends from 4D space had taken over the controls that Cliff and Mirage could not cover.

And then I wanted to know why we had not simply convened in the meeting room. But she seemed distressed, and not every commander could keep control of all their faculties under duress.

Maria turned to me. "We need to go to Sol III," she said plainly, knowing the direct answer was what I was looking for.

"What? Why?" Fayt wanted to know.

"What's going on?" Sophia added on, drawing closer to Fayt as she did so. This made me inexplicably cross; I knew that Fayt cared nothing for her. Maybe a part of me resented all of the time she had spent with him. But that didn't matter—what was the past, after all, in comparison to the future?

Maria took a moment to draw in breath, and sigh to calm her pulse. "We found the Engineer. She's no longer on Elicoor II. And what she's doing now that she's off Elicoor, well…"

Maria turned to the console at her side and her fingers flew over the keyboard. The image of the Engineer appeared on the screen in the center of the bridge. My fingers curled into a loose fist before I had realized it.

Fayt's hand slipped into mine, taming my fury. Then the screen moved to show the group that surrounded the Engineer. I recognized those blank faces too well; they were Vendeeni.

Assuming I wouldn't notice, Fayt's body visibly tensed at the sight of them. I felt fairly sure that only Sophia noticed as I stroked his spine.

"The Federation is still too strong," a weak dissenter whined. It was obvious that if he enjoyed any position of power, he would not be enjoying it for much longer. The Vendeeni could not afford such pathetic personalities when they had domination in their sights.

A younger one—presumably, it was difficult when voice was all there was to go on—slammed the flat of his hand on the table and stood up without so much as permission to speak.

"And they have been placated by promises of peace while the galaxy heals," he said while adopting a magnanimous air. While everyone else on the bridge was paying attention to his words, I looked carefully instead at how the other Vendeeni received him. While he spoke, the sound of his voice was enough to ensnare the attentions of even those in high rank; his charisma brushed aside all traditional authority.

I waited impatiently for someone, anyone, to mention his name. He would be the one to watch.

"Now is not the moment to bide our time," he said. "Now is the time for decision! Now is the time for action, and now is the time for the Vendeeni to assume our rightful place!!"

Young warmonger, I thought detachedly. Immediately after, an older Vendeeni voiced my sentiment.

"You are young. All you have are the ideals of war. You barely had a hand in the defense against the Destruction! You still think of the Vendeeni with the unified strength that we once had. Our people have been reduced to nomads, boy. How can we provide for weaponry when we can hardly provide for our survival?"

Then the Engineer took the stage.

"Your people… are so ridiculous sometimes. You can only see what's in front of you—no imagination at all. Then again, that's admirable in its own way, as long as you have someone to point you in the right direction. Allow me to be your compass?"

She looked up at the designated leader of this gathering of Vendeeni—the one sitting at the head of the table—with both the confident smirk of a mercenary and the faithful gaze of an ally.

"What exactly are you offering us?" he demanded logically. This was the first time he had spoken.

"Nothing more than the power that Biwig knew to seek," she said delicately. "The work of Dr. Leingod."

"Biwig is dead," he answered plainly.

"That's because he didn't know how to approach the problem. But you will. You see… you don't have to use the Leingod boy directly. With the Alteration gene carried by the leader of Quark—"

The table erupted into murmuring whispers. Silence was promptly demanded, and the Engineer waited for assurance that she could continue.

"—and a sample of the Destruction gene, the Leingod boy's abilities can be transferred to another. To one of your own soldiers, perhaps?"

I caught a strange look in the young Vendeeni's eyes. Apparently his desire for power was not limited to authority.

Then the screen went blank.

"After that the Vendeeni get distracted and go off on delusions of grandeur," Maria explained quickly. "But this is simply in conjunction with the Justice's maneuvers. We've located her again, and we need to go to Sol III immediately. Earth is her next target for Catharsis," Maria said.

"Earth," Fayt repeated softly. "Can't be… she can't. It's already in ruin, what more can she want?!"

"We already know the answer to that," Maria replied calmly. "I just wanted to inform everyone that we're now fighting on two fronts. I'm going to report rumors of Vendeeni insurgency to Quark. And perhaps… perhaps it would be best for the Federation to know."

"What, are you crazy?" Cliff interjected. "We can't set that kind of precedence!!"

Maria cleared her throat. "Maybe you missed the point of the video that the Lightseeker so generously found for us, but the Vendeeni are now contemplating not only the kidnapping of your leader, but Fayt Leingod as well, with the intent of using said powers to take control of the Milky Way galaxy."

I smirked a little. Cliff noticed, and scowled as he cleared his throat. "Let's not make any rash decisions," he amended. "Not when there's so much to consider—"

Contemplating the incredible irony that these words of wisdom came from Cliff, it did not fully sink that Fayt was subtly trying for my attention.

The bridge had erupted into a series of miniature conversations. "What is it, Fayt?" I wanted to know.

"Albel, I don't think that training with the Incantatrix is working."

I looked at him blankly. "I think it is. You may not notice progress, but I certainly do."

"But progress isn't coming as fast as we need it."

This was true. "What do you want to do about it, Fayt?"

"I want… I want you to train with me. I trained with Helgrave before, you know, and it really helped. So maybe…"

The way that Fayt looked at me in that instant almost made me want to laugh. I never knew his emerald eyes could look so pleading. "Fayt, do you really think that will work? Without the Incantatrix to control your power, you could do something you would regret."

He frowned. "Albel, I'm not talking about me. It bothers you that your power won't awaken, I know it does. And we already know that it won't hurt me, for whatever reason, so maybe it'll work."

Oh.

"Are you sure you want to do that, Fayt? Because I might still hurt you. You're forgetting that we have to fight long enough to call out that power," I reminded him, but he knew I was growing to like the idea.

And then I remembered. "Fayt," I said then. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

He looked up when I said that. "Really? What about?"

"You," I said gently. I was about to continue when Sophia broke into our conversation.

"Hey, Sophia," Fayt said with the semblance of ease.

She smiled. "Hey, Fayt. Hey, Albel," she said, and turned to me. "Um, Albel, do you think we could talk about something really quick? Just the both of us. It's really important."

"Is it, now?" I said to her, but when I caught Fayt's eyes, he shrugged and nodded. "If you insist," I said lightly.

"I do," she responded forcefully as she led the way out. At that moment, I realized that I had never shared a lone conversation with Sophia before.

She braced her arm against the rail that kept us from the clear pane looking out into the void. But her eyes met mine with strength I had only seen in the depths of that empty place where we had encountered Luther.

"So he's yours," she said stiffly.

I admit, I was taken aback. I had no idea that little Sophia could be so forceful. "If that's how you choose to see it," I said amicably. Then I wondered why I bothered. "Yes, I suppose you could say that."

She scowled. "Oh, come on, I know how you are. You think you possess him now, don't you?"

I smirked. "Think about me whatever you will, Sophia," I retorted.

"Whatever," she said back. "Fayt isn't just some 'thing' you can own, all right? He's just as human as you are—no, more than—and if you hurt him, then I swear I'm coming after you."

I disregarded the threat entirely. But at that moment I didn't put the possibility past her for lack of effort. Were it in her ability, I had no doubt that she would follow through.

It would have been fun to taunt her. Something—perhaps Fayt's influence—inside of me wanted to do otherwise.

"Sophia, let me be uncharacteristically kind to you," I said, closing the distance between us. "And honest. I've already hurt him. What do you say to that?"

Her hands clenched. "What did you do?!" she demanded.

"And he hurt me. That's what happens when two people don't believe that the one they love feels the same way. So if you're trying to convince yourself that this won't last forever, that I've seduced him or whatnot, then you're going to be waiting for an impossibly long time."

I had nothing more to say. But she moved in front of me when I turned to leave. Her anger seemed to have disappeared.

"Albel, wait," she pleaded.

I met her eyes. "I'm waiting," I told her.

She sighed. "I don't know whether to believe you or not. But I've never heard you say something like that before. So… um… I'll be watching out for Fayt, got that?"

I narrowed my eyes. This was ridiculous. "Don't waste your time," I growled. "There's nothing that you would want to see, nothing you would want to find. If you need to believe that I've forced Fayt into caring for me, then do whatever you need to keep yourself happy. Don't bother to tell me when you wake up."

I had enough of this. I left her standing there, but when I went to bridge, it was oddly quiet.

"Did I miss something?" I growled pointedly.

Maria shook her head quickly. "No, nothing," she stammered. She was a terrible liar.

Fayt sighed beside me. "If we're fighting on two fronts," he addressed to the bridge, "then we need to be at our best. So I'm going to sleep. Good night, everyone."

I watched him leave without waiting for me. I pretended that didn't hurt, even though it didn't really matter. But when I followed him, he was nowhere to be found, and neither was Sophia.

Another time, then, I decided. Perhaps now was not the moment to tell him that, despite what I had said to that girl, I did feel that he was mine. But not mine to abuse, as Sophia wasted no time telling me that was what she thought. Fayt was mine, but only mine to protect. Any less, and I feared I would lose him. And then I would have nowhere to place myself.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for taking so long to update! End of school complications kept me from my computer. But as usual, Albel and Fayt aren't mine.

Chapter 3

"Albel, where are you going?" Fayt called to me. I seemed to have completely passed him by in the close darkness of the corridors. "You… you look angry," he added inadequately.

"I'm not angry," I growled.

"Albel, what're you going to do when you don't have anything to fight?" Fayt said, sighing, even as he laughed.

"Truthfully, I don't know. It's what I do. I fight," I said then. It wasn't quite what I meant, nor what he wanted to hear. "What I mean is, even when this all ends, when we can finally say goodbye to 4D space forever, there will always be something. Especially if you decide you want to return to Elicoor II."

"You really mean that?" Fayt said, his eyes almost lighting up. He caught himself, but not before I noticed. "I thought you didn't want to go back."

"Not alone. I could bear any world with the right company. Including that infernal Styx or 4D space."

"I wouldn't make you go back if you didn't want to."

"I know you wouldn't. Which is why I would not mind returning, providing that we stayed far from nobility. War kept me pinned between Airyglyph and Aquaria," I added. "As annoying as the Sanmite people seem at first, I can't help but be bothered by their claim that no human can cross the Mosel Dunes to their cities. There's much of Elicoor II left for me to see."

When I looked at Fayt, he had a strange expression on his face. "Explain," I demanded.

He glanced up at me quickly, but then his eyes edged away. "It's just weird hearing you refer to your planet as Elicoor II. It's like you don't think of it as your home anymore. Even though Maria calls my home planet Sol III, I think of it still as Earth, what we used to call it before we learned there were other people out in the stars."

"So what's so great about your world?" I wanted to know.

Fayt could provide no more detailed of an answer than a shrug. "I don't really know, when you ask. I mean, it's just mine. That's somewhat comforting, don't you think?"

I laughed quietly. "We have very different definitions of what exactly is comforting."

"What are you talking about? You don't even have one," he joked, grateful for the opportunity to change the subject.

"At least I—" I began a retort, but Sophia's increasingly annoying footsteps stopped me. The little patience I afforded her was entirely undeserved. If she ever ceased whining enough to attract someone else, then she wouldn't see me interrupting her, would she?

"Fayt. Maria wants to talk to you," she said, her voice shaking. One had to only look in her quaking gaze to know she was a terrible liar. I scowled indignantly, but how could she cover this if Fayt indeed went to Maria, wanting to know the problem?

"Albel, see you later, all right?" Fayt turned to me.

A moment's silent thought; I pulled him to me for a more physical goodbye than words could satisfy. It was purely to infuriate Sophia, but what was a kiss between us in comparison to the destruction Sophia would likely wish to inflict upon me, were she the one granted that ability.

Pity that Fayt's displeased expression told me that he knew I had only kissed him for that reason. I held his gaze for a moment longer, until forgiveness eased into his emerald eyes.

Then I smiled. I think Sophia actually gasped, if that said anything about the rarity of that expression. It quickly turned into a satisfied smirk, and Fayt and Sophia left me alone.

I decided then that I needed to see Fayt's home for myself. What kind of world could it be, so that he would defend it, but ultimately would prefer to explore the stars?

"Albel Nox," I heard a girl's voice purr maliciously. I narrowed my eyes. It was certainly familiar enough.

I turned slowly; having seen what the Engineer could do, I was in no hurry to provoke a fight.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded quietly. She had taken the place of Sophia in the dim shadows, but I could feel her power emanate from her as if she had brought Airyglyph's winter winds with her from my world.

"Making things interesting. Interesting for me, that is."

I scowled. "So you're just bored. Is that your motivation for everything?" I said skeptically. "What bargain would entail the pleasure of your company," I sneered. "Or shall I simply ask how you managed to not only leave my world, but sell yourself to the Vendeeni since I've last seen you?"

She giggled, which contributed little to my irritated impression of her. "Sorry, Albel."

Then suffocating cold choked my throat and brought me immediately to my knees. I gasped for purchase on that empty air, and I knew instantly that I was on that chilling, dusty hell of a planet, Styx.

But it hadn't been this bad. No, something was keeping me from breathing. I saw the Engineer's superior smirk, and I knew it was her.

I refused to give her the enjoyment of watching me struggle for breath. I breathed out slowly, looked away indignantly as I focused simply on gracefully taking in the barren air.

That was when I noticed that there were two shadows standing over me.

"Not that I'm trying to convince you otherwise, but are you sure you want to do this?" the Engineer asked the other one. "Can your cute little conscience handle it?"

"No, it's okay. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, after all."

It was Sophia. Forget looking dignified; I darted my gaze up to her. She wouldn't even look at me. That confirmed my suspicions.

"Sophia, what do you think you're doing?!" I snarled. I was on Styx, kneeling before that huge window into 4D space, with Sophia beside me and wanting me gone. It didn't take much to figure out what was about to happen.

"I'm not sorry, Albel," Sophia then said, in what was supposed to be pride. "You were supposed to stay on your world when everything was done, and he wasn't supposed to see you again. He was supposed to come back with me to Earth. And he will. Have fun in 4D space, Albel."

"You'd work with the Engineer to get rid of me," I hissed. "Did she tell you that she toyed with your Fayt as well?"

Sophia paused, but of course my words weren't enough to salvage her reason. She lived with her own paradigm of the universe, and I apparently wasn't included in that deluded perception of reality.

In the end, it didn't matter what Sophia thought. The Engineer had what she wanted here—Sophia's Connection gene—and she would find some way or another to extort it from Sophia even if I could sway the idiotic girl otherwise.

"Sophia," the Engineer said then, "I'm asking if you'll be able to look at your little boyfriend with Albel's blood on your hands."

That gave Sophia a start. "What? I thought we were just sending him to 4D space where he can't be with Fayt."

"Do you see the bearer of the Alteration gene here, Sophia? Without that power, you might as well be slitting his throat yourself," the Engineer chuckled.

Sophia exhaled squeamishly, but then shook her head. "I wouldn't have even met him if Fayt hadn't insisted on him staying with us. I don't care if he dies," she sniffed.

The Engineer seemed pleased by that. "Besides, I have my own reasons for keeping the both of them apart. I'm simply being practical, you understand."

That was meant for me.

"Sophia, you'll want to step back a bit, unless you want to join him."

The girl breathed in quickly in surprise. "Oh! Right," she answered submissively, doing just as she was ordered. Pathetic.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and do it."

A pause.

"All right," Sophia replied. At my back, I felt her power hum in the dry air. She was really going to do it.

"Sophia, even if I die I'll find a way to come back and I swear that your blood will be the first my blade tastes," I promised.

That made the Engineer laugh. "Don't bother, Albel Nox. I'll finish the job for you."

In surprise and confusion, Sophia's power pulled back. But it was too late.

My body screamed from the inside, and then everything was quiet, everything was black. I couldn't breathe. My senses muffled, the last thing I heard was a fatal, chilling shriek. It was Sophia's, a death cry at the hands of the Engineer.

I refused to let her hear mine. Silently, I endured the pain that ripped me apart.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean. But Fayt gets to speak for a bit of this chapter, lucky guy. Please let me know what you think!

Chapter Four

I sighed and rested my head against the wall in my room. I couldn't take it anymore. I sank to the floor, and curled my arms over my knees. If anyone came into my room right now, I would look nothing less than pathetic.

So close, I thought as I tried to register what I'd just been told. For seven or eight days—it surprised me that I hadn't even been counting—I could believe that Albel was mine, finally.

The fact that I thought of him as mine made me laugh quietly. Anyone else would think Albel would have been the possessive one. But wanting Albel—dignified, bruised Albel—was so tortuous that one could hardly blame me for being like that towards him now.

Not that it mattered. The Lightseeker had been to Styx, while she left the Lover and the Tamer here to explain what had taken place in approximately the five minutes after Sophia left me with an incredibly bewildered Maria.

I don't know what I would have done if the Engineer hadn't killed Sophia, and had let her return here to the _Diplo_. I don't think I would have been able to speak to Sophia again, or even look at her.

I just didn't think it was possible that Sophia could get so upset with Albel that she would kill him. That Sophia could be so spiteful, so hateful that she would rather see me with no one than with someone else besides her.

A sharp report on the door like gunfire, and the Lightseeker—not Nel, my gut reaction even though I'd been telling myself for days that Nel was back on Elicoor II with Helgrave—entered my room, saw me sitting here on the floor, and she sighed and crouched down on her knees so that she could talk to me at eye level.

"You doing okay, Fayt?" she said then, softly. I thought it really strange that she would be the one to come talk to me, since we'd hardly spoken two words to each other. I don't know why exactly, it was just that the Lover was so similar in appearance to Albel that it made me feel awkward seeing the Lightseeker paired with him.

And I'd almost forgotten about the Lover. I'd have a great time on the _Diplo_ from now on, with Albel's ghost haunting the corridors. Maybe I just wouldn't leave my room. First my parents, and almost my entire plane of existence, and now, ultimately, my namesake had given the final blow and ripped Albel away from me. Somebody was certainly trying to tell me that my life wasn't worth it anymore.

I could still feel his lips pressed to mine, his awkward but warm one-armed embrace around my torso. I didn't even know I'd been crying.

"Say something, blue-head," she told me.

I was too tempted to say to her exactly that, and nothing more. But it wouldn't help to lash out at her. She hadn't done anything.

But that was just it. They hadn't done anything. If they were truly knowledgeable and powerful and whatnot, why was it that the Incantatrix—who was also now gone, somehow—was the only one to figure out what was happening in time?

So what else was going on behind our backs, that's what I wanted to know.

* * *

I heard voices. Footsteps. The purr of machinery, the sigh of wind. I breathed in deeply, lightly curled my fingertips in my right hand and articulated the joints of my left. I was alive, or something like it.

"Just enough of the Alteration gene stuck around to keep you from dying. When did you get so lucky?"

I had heard that voice before. I breathed in sharply, took in a sharp smell like pine and the hard liquor my men would drink.

Blank and blinding white assaulted me from the moment I opened my eyes. I took in my surroundings before I identified the speaker; a trick of the eyes allowed me to see straight through the crystalline floor. Then vertigo kicked in as my gaze fell through the sky to the clouds far, far below.

"Incantatrix?" I hissed, keeping my voice down. I knew exactly where I was. I had only to look at the glassy-eyed reflections in the concerned gazes of the strangely-clothed people circling us as she moved, trying to shield me.

4D space. I had lived somehow, and now I was here.

"What are you _doing_ here?" I demanded as she turned to me. She had said something to the vacant masses, something to give us clearance as I darted to my feet.

"Oh, I latched on," she said casually. As if that made any sense.

I think my narrowed eyes gave her enough reason to believe I had no idea what she was talking about. "The two doors," she explained, "the one on Styx and the one on Elicoor II, both open whenever someone uses the Connection gene's ability, if the user hasn't focused his or her powers yet. I saw the Engineer just before she left. There was no time—I bolted to Elicoor and got to the door just in time."

"So Fayt doesn't know—"

She shook her head. "He doesn't know where you are. The _Diplo_ doesn't know where you are, where I am, or where Sophia is. I'm sure that the Lover and the Lightseeker, or the Tamer, will be able to figure it out, though."

"Sophia's dead," I told her.

Her eyes only widened slightly. "For some reason, that doesn't surprise me. The Engineer does not want to come home, does she? That will make returning to the Milky Way servers a little harder. Much harder," she added truthfully. "In fact, I'm wondering if we'll be able to return at all."

"Don't tell me that."

"Fine. I won't tell you that you may in fact be stuck in 4D space. I'm not happy about it either, truth be told. I am not very popular around here," she muttered under her breath.

"Then that makes two of us."

There was only one image that surfaced immediately in my mind when I thought of this alien reality. That man Azazer and his troops surrounding us, the cold glint in his eyes that regarded us as nothing more than errors in his world's perfect order.

I did not appreciate being thought of as only an imperfection, not even by those whose opinions I cared nothing for.

This world had no right to play with mine as if it were a puppeteer, our lives only props in their games. The words of that boy Flad, describing the military battles he had fought in for the amusement of the people here, echoed too harshly for me.

If a military hero could be one of them, then who was an imposter from this world, and who was real?

It didn't matter if they chose to play by the rules, like Jarvis who fit in so naturally, or that 'slug' Shelby, as Helgrave called him, who took advantage of my absence to take command. If the leaders of these people arbitrarily decided to destroy my world, then what would stop the ordinary players from abusing their superior position in my world?

Because anyone, when I thought of it, could have been merely this world's puppet. The King's bride-to-be had even been one of Luther's assistants, and she had lost her memories of this world.

Jason. Even my brothers Helgrave and Sieg. Or… even myself? How could I distinguish between my own actions and those forced on me, if these people were like cruel, merciless gods to us?

"Albel?"

When I looked up at the Incantatrix, there was only distrust in my eyes for a moment.

"Why did you come here for me?" I demanded. "What's in it for you?"

I had genuinely surprised her. She seemed to withdraw, pulling herself back for a breath in confusion as if I had struck her.

"There's nothing in it for me," she said. "Not really. Maybe spite," she admitted. "I can't seem to get enough of thwarting Sphere's efforts to control the Eternal Sphere," she said with a small laugh.

"I could use your help, certainly," she said then. "But… this world is not my home. The Eternal Sphere is. Don't you feel the same way?"

I could only shrug at her sentiment. "I don't really care much for the concept of 'home'," I responded.

She didn't seem to accept that for an instant, but in the end she must have decided she didn't care. "Whatever. You want to see Fayt again, you come with me. I need an extra hand. Sorry to hold you hostage like this, but you don't really have anything better to do than get reclaimed by Sphere. You are their property, you do realize."

And with those parting words, she turned on her heel and made way for who knows where.

"You're no better than the people you're fighting against," I informed her even as I followed her.

"And neither are you," she called over her shoulder. I refused to be seen tagging along behind her, and she walked fairly quickly for someone so physically weak. I quickened my pace until our strides were even.

"So what exactly must I do to return to my world? I simply want to know what I'm getting into. We aren't exactly friends, after all, even though we aren't enemies."

"Well, now that we're here in 4D space, I'm about as strong and able for battle, if it comes to it, as a lady-in-waiting in your Glyphian court."

"Why don't I find that hard to believe?" I said pointedly, looking at her. She made Fayt look like he could take an entire regiment of Greetonese, in comparison.

"Which leads me into the worse news. We can't go back to the Milky Way server—your world—from here because the connection is simply one-way. You guys can come into 4D space, or you used to be able to until Sophia was killed, but we couldn't go over there. But what we can do," she said with what passed for optimism, "is go to the Andromeda server and find the carrier of the Connection gene there."

I stopped. "There are more?"

The Incantatrix nodded solemnly. "Trends will come and go. Just as your Milky Way server was popular until recently, so too will the Andromeda server's popularity eventually wane. The peoples that inhabit that server are just as alive as yours. They shouldn't suffer just because 4D space gets bored. Think of it… as insurance."

Shaking my head, I had nothing to say to that, but, "Your people are so complicated. Why did you decide to interfere with nature's cycle and try to become gods?"

"That's a very good question," she sighed. "We'll need to find someplace to go where we can access the Eternal Sphere. We can't go to Gemity because I'm wanted by Sphere and you are too. We'll have to leave the Arkives sector completely, I'm afraid."

"It makes no difference to me," I assured her.

"I'm just saying that because Arkives isn't really what the rest of this world is like. Arkives is like… well, it's like the Arias of 4D space. Nice place, but everyone's too happy for their own good and it's far too peaceful to not be suspicious—isn't that why Crimson Blade uses it as a base? The rest of 4D space doesn't really care for such facades."

That only made me laugh. "Good," I told the Incantatrix. "Arkives was starting to annoy me."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean!! We all know what would happen were that the case. And yes, I killed off Sophia in chapter 3 and she's not coming back. I think most people reading for this pairing would be happy about that, but even if not… well, just think that it's my way of actually writing for Sophia! But that aside, please read and review!!

Chapter Five

"So, is this what you people do? This isn't quite like the method we used to access my world from Gemity."

"Enough of this 'you people' business, Albel Nox," the Incantatrix snipped. "I'm having to do by hand everything that Maria's Alteration did automatically, so give me a moment of peace while I work this out."

I laughed quietly. And even though she had just told me to let her be, she started talking to me immediately after.

"So you can't integrate with the Andromeda server without the Connection gene, so you'll have to play the game like someone from 4D space. I'll hack you administrative privileges, because, like before, if there's something threatening to the Sphere Company in a particular area, chances are that's where we want to be. But it won't be the same. You'll become hungry and thirsty independently of what happens in the game, and while the Andromeda server plays out in real time, you won't tire from fighting. Um… I'm really bad at teaching people how to play."

"It can't be that hard," I told her. "If it's a game, then it can't be more work than it's worth. Let's just get going already," I said. I was impatient, I admit. But I didn't know what type of world I would come back to, and every moment away was a moment in which Fayt could be taken from me, forever.

"You're not taking into account the fact that 4D residents interact with computers and such on an hourly basis. It's second nature to them, while your planet hadn't even developed electricity yet."

"What are you saying," I warned.

She sighed audibly. "I'm saying that if I tell you to do something, just do it, okay?"

"All right," I said. "Unless I have a better idea."

"No, not unless you have a better idea! Just trust me!"

She reminded me of how Fayt used to be: annoyingly convinced he was always right. Then again, it was typically because he was meddling in Elicoorian affairs he failed to understand.

But no matter. Conflict was the same regardless of where it actually took place or the type of people who engaged in battle. Weapons were drawn and blood was drained.

"Anyways, I've given you an avatar that looks nearly like you do. I had to change your clothes and hair color a little, but I'm sure you're only worried about your weaponry, and that's unchanged. I went ahead and upped the stats on gauntlet so you can use symbology with more efficiency, because there is no samurai job class on the Andromeda servers and you're too light to be an effective berserker class. So you're a war mage. Fitting, since you bear the Destruction."

She looked at me. "I also picked war mage because I'm a war mage and it'll be easier that way."

"At least we have balanced forces."

"I don't need any of your sarcasm. Because of the limits of our bodies, we only have eight hours in the game once we log in. Are you ready?"

She didn't wait for a reply. I should have been displeased, but anything to keep her from stalling any further. It seemed as if she were afraid, almost.

Whatever for?

A ship not unlike the _Diplo_ materialized around us. Clearly, she had already made good use of her illegal authority within the game.

I looked at the Incantatrix as hurried footsteps echoed in our direction. We had been on this ship perhaps five seconds and the crew had already been alerted of our presence.

"Don't blame me," the Incantatrix said. "I did this on purpose."

Right. "Is there any particular reason why my hair is blue?"

"It's silver with blue tips—there's a difference. Don't you like your clothes?"

"I suppose there's nothing to not like... so explain yourself."

Anyone else would have been disturbed at how casually we were both taking this, but then again, if the Incantatrix didn't so much as bat an eye at the situation, there was hardly any cause.

"Well, I thought it would be best to do this quickly," she said doubtfully. She was silent for an awkward pause. "Like… a band-aid," he said. I had no idea what that was.

"Oh, there he is. Meet this world's Fayt Leingod. And… that's this world's Helgrave, and Rozalin. Your hair had to match theirs."

But I was no longer paying attention to her.

His hair was cut aggressively short, an ugly scar sliced through his eyebrow and traced the curve of his right eye. The green of his pupils was too cold to be emerald; it reminded me of the illogical code that glinted at the Incantatrix from her screen.

When his greeting began with a drawn sword, I didn't take the threat seriously. This seemed to offend him, to say the least.

"You still think I'm some sort of joke?!" this world's Fayt Leingod growled. There was a feral edge to his voice that I had never before heard. "You don't even have the grace to die, Sieg Nox."

"Sieg?" I repeated aloud before I even thought to reply.

He drew closer, keeping his sword trained on my throat. Too close, in my opinion, as he glared into my eyes. Whatever he saw, he was not pleased.

"What's with your eyes," he said then as he pulled back, his face grimacing in revulsion. "They're not right. They're too bright."

I couldn't have been blamed then for laughing. "That's because I'm not Sieg," I said. I left the question as to how this Fayt had come to know Sieg unspoken. "I'm Albel Nox."

"A lie," this Fayt retorted without thought. "Albel was killed by Sieg. I was there," he added for confirmation.

"Oh really," I said quietly. I looked to the Incantatrix and she nodded. I seriously doubted that the gesture was an indication allowing me to maul this belligerent mockery of Fayt, so I made the logical assumption instead.

"Allow me to clarify, Fayt Leingod. I'm Albel Nox from… Incantatrix, what do you call it? The Milky Way servers? In my world," I continued, "I'm obviously alive, and Sieg died at the hands of Nel Zelpher some time ago. And you," I added, "are not nearly as annoying."

With ease I forced his blade aside and I was the one with the other's life in my hands. He didn't even quake, only stared at me hardly in retort as he edged away from my gauntlet.

"So who's she supposed to be? Another Maria?" this Fayt laughed nervously.

I had wondered how long it would take before the Incantatrix lost her guarded reserve and showed the temper that could match mine.

"I'm supposed to be me," she snarled, drawing close to him. "I'm the Incantatrix. I come from 4D space in rebellion from Sphere, and I'm here to tell you that somewhere in your server there are people with the symbological abilities of Destruction, Alteration, and Connection, meant to protect this world from its fickle Creator, and I thank whoever is up there that in this server, at least, none of those are you."

For some reason, this did not seem to faze him. "Well, of course. That's no secret—we're looking for them right now. Not that we need your help," he added scornfully. "We've already located the Nox family, as you can tell. So that's Destruction taken care of… not that we should be trusting you anyways, since you plainly said you're from 4D space. Still… something's telling me not to kill you both on sight."

"I'd enjoy watching you try," I snapped.

This other Fayt glared sharply at me. "By that, I mean have Helgrave dispose of you."

"Sorry, Leingod," Helgrave interrupted. "Maybe the girl, but not Albel."

"He's not your brother, Helgrave," Fayt said bitterly.

"Something you should remember, as well," Helgrave said then. "So stop taking it out on him. And if we run into Sieg again… it wasn't his fault. I'd told you that we hadn't all awakened when we first met, and it wasn't your job to provoke them. Albel's genes wouldn't have come to his defense if it was against his own brother. Albel never would have hurt him."

_Albel, believe it or not, we're nearing our limit. We'll have to log off soon. Don't freak out, this is a private messaging system programmed into the game. You can do this as well._

_How do you propose we log off with all of these… NPCs, I believe, nearby?_

_Oh, don't worry. Even though the game's in real time, your character will continue to interact as indicated by your personality until you log in again. The computer's really quite intelligent. The only difference is that my character disappears completely. I'm going to log off, and I'll log you out as well._

In the conversation I had missed, this Fayt Leingod and Helgrave Nox decided to let us stay aboard their ship—how kind.

I stayed behind, allowing them to walk ahead a little.

_Fayt…_ a voice inside of me pleaded. But no, he wasn't the same. And even though he looked like my Fayt, he never would be.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean.

Chapter six… and I've done a lot to Fayt and Albel already. I'm kind of interested as to how the Incantatrix comes off, because I did not originally intend for her to have as big of a role as she does (honestly, I'm not offended if people think she's annoying or suspicious; I think she is too). Please read and review!!

Chapter Six

"Why did we log out?!" I insisted as soon as I was once more aware of the 'real' world around me.

The place that the Incantatrix had taken us was worse than the filthiest of back-alley slums in the darkest recesses of Airyglyph. She had been kind when she had said that the rest of 4D space simply didn't uphold the same standards as Arkives.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that both of us were technically wanted by that Sphere organization, company, whatever she felt like calling it. Which would, I admit, severely restrict the type of places where we could safely access the world that was not mine.

But I had felt cleaner soaked in the blood of my enemies on the battlefield. Never before had I choked on what the Incantatrix called 'smog', and she didn't answer when I demanded to know what it was that I was breathing. She simply muttered something about 'chemicals' and led me down a narrow street, through a slimy doorway, and into a room populated by shabby-looking people she presumably had met previously. I had expected her to keep better company.

Not that I was one to be called an expert on machinery, but the device through which we accessed the other world looked stolen and reassembled. I didn't have to be a native of 4D space to know when an entire situation looked shady.

If I wanted to see Fayt again, though, I was trapped.

"We logged out because there's no way that this is going to work," she snapped, eyes darting over to me. "I didn't realize that Andromeda's Fayt Leingod was involved with another you."

"Why does something like that matter," I growled. "I'm only interested in returning to my world as soon as possible."

"It's not that. They won't ever trust us; they know that we're from 4D space, technically. We'll have to get new identities, and wait days, weeks, months maybe so that they won't get suspicious, and then work our way back inside—"

"I don't have that long!" I retorted. "Every instant I spend here is a moment in which your friends the Engineer and the Justice could—" I paused. "Is a moment in which they could cause severe damage to my world."

"Don't you mean 'hurt Fayt'? That's what you were going to say."

"You don't have a real plan, do you?" I said suddenly. It was purely on impulse, meant entirely to shake her. But when I issued my accusation, her face paled of what little color it had.

"Maybe I don't," she said quietly, then. "There. Are you happy?"

"What did I ever do to you?" I wanted to know.

"I could ask that same question," she said, eyes narrowed. "You've been nothing but a bad attitude bundled up into an anorexically thin sado-masochistic loverboy since I saved you."

"I'm going to pretend I never heard that. You're the one with a bitter attitude, it seems."

"Maybe I'm jealous," she said then, throwing me off guard.

"I beg pardon?"

"We're the same person, you know. Really, when it comes down to it. Why do you get a happy ending when I'm still left hanging, I wonder," she said, musingly.

"I would hesitate to call hiding out in 4D space with you a 'happy ending'."

"Let's be honest. We know that in the end, you'll end up back with Fayt and everything will be perfect forever after. What am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing is certain," I said quietly. "Last time I took something like that for granted, I ended up at the mercy of the Marquis instead of his master. What's it matter if there isn't a plan," I said then. "Just do something and we'll figure out the rest later. And then we'll see if we have a happy ending waiting for each of us, or not."

I didn't want to believe that. I didn't want to believe that I might not see Fayt ever again. I didn't want to be with the Incantatrix at that moment—not that it was ever something I was in the mood for, her company, but this instant more than usual—I wanted Fayt. I wanted him in my arms, I wanted him safe.

She didn't say anything.

"Incantatrix."

"Thanks."

"I wasn't trying to be helpful. But I've had enough of indecision, of doing nothing, for an eternity of lifetimes."

"You're not from 4D space… but you're more human than a lot of the players that come from here. But you already knew that without me telling you. You know time keeps going in the Andromeda servers when we're logged out?"

"That makes sense."

"So just be ready for wherever our avatars may be when we log back on."

She had assumed once more her bossy demeanor. She was easier to deal with that way, if nothing else.

The other world faded over this one in my eyes, and I froze.

My hand was still, paused on the line of the other Fayt's scar. It was dark. I didn't know where I was.

"Six months of you gone," he whispered even as I stopped. "I thought I'd die. Whatever is trying to kill us can't be the real angels, because there's no way you're here now, except for a miracle."

He looked up at me. "Albel, I know that you know, but I never got to say it before you left me. I… I love you," he breathed, pulling himself up to me, desperately reaching for my mouth with his.

His arm looped around my neck; he came on with force, grasping me roughly.

I motioned to push him away. I didn't have the faintest idea how I had ended up here, but I didn't want any of him.

_You wouldn't dare,_ my voice echoed darkly inside my mind. _You wouldn't dare think of taking him away from me._

_He's not Fayt!!_

_He is!_

I mentally recoiled: Fayt's lips and tongue had progressed to the tender skin above my collarbone.

_Is this… is this some nightmare? What is this? Who are you? Are you me… or… are you that other Albel, somehow?_

_How should I know? You left me with this attachment to Fayt and free will._

The Incantatrix had mentioned how intelligent the computers were, whatever that had meant. Now I knew exactly what she was referring to.

_This isn't the right Fayt! Give me back my body!!_

_You player characters are all the same. I'd have thought you'd be more understanding, since you used to be an NPC. You're no better than the Creator you claim to fight against._

I betrayed an involuntary moan as Fayt's jagged caress traced the center of my chest, the muscles of my stomach, paused, goading me, at my belly button, then continued mercilessly into my hips, punctured the inside of my thigh.

For a moment, I closed my eyes. It was too easy to pretend that this Fayt was mine. And my body, this rebellious body, would not allow me another option.

Did that make this rape, then, on his part, or exploitation on mine?

No. He wasn't my Fayt. Not the one I had fallen so hard for, not the one I worked so hard to never tell. Not the one who loved me.

With the intent to force him off, it was all I could do to tense my muscles unwillingly.

"No," I breathed, when I wanted to scream.

Thankfully, mercifully, he paused. "Albel?" he whispered fearfully.

"I…" I began, gathering my breath. "I'm sorry. I'm not… I'm not your Albel."

"Then who are you?"

"Another Fayt's," I said simply. It was the closest words ever could come to that truth.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean, but I'm fairly sure I've messed with it enough to infuriate whoever does. Such is life, right?

As you can probably tell after you read this, I wrote this while on vacation in the Rockies. Albel's thigh-high socks, by the way, would be totally inappropriate for hiking through the mountains—they'd gather up burrs and seeds and such like magnets. Not sexy. This time last year, I was sketching out what would end up being 'Time Will Tell'.

Time flies.

Chapter Seven

The other Fayt looked at me without saying anything. Then he jumped, startled, and moved away from me to the desk in his cabin—that's where we were—and picked up the communicator that insisted on his attention.

"Hey Leingod, get yourself to the bridge. There's something we need to take care of. Everyone else is here but you and those two we picked up. No hard feelings, but I'll be expecting you ten seconds ago. It's kind of important."

The other Helgrave.

Fayt looked at me for a moment. "If you don't want to come with me, that's okay," he said, his voice subdued. So I watched him leave. And as he left, it somehow reminded me of something very different that seemed like it had only happened yesterday.

Shortly after Fayt returned to Elicoor with me, Fayt and I were journeying through the mountains. Not the Barr Mountains, but the range to the south of Kirlsa. I hadn't expected Fayt to speak at that moment.

"Albel, I wanted to come back to Elicoor II with you. Thanks for letting me."

I looked at Fayt, startled. He had caught me off guard, and he knew it. Had that been his intent?

"Makes me wonder about what kind of world you come from," I answered, "if you think mine is so intriguing."

"It's just different, that's all," was his reply.

I sighed heavily. "Didn't you do anything in your world? There isn't something calling you back?"

His only thought was an indifferent shrug. "Not really. I went to college, and all, but… well, that was more my parents' choice than mine. I played basketball—it's a sport—and that was pretty interesting, for what it was. I used to read a lot, about other places, other people. Wars, anything I could get my hands on that was different from what I had—"

Then he was quiet.

"If that's what you want, then," I told him.

He smiled sideways. "Yeah, pretty much."

I didn't know then that when I had said that, he had meant me. So I didn't think about it then, even though I wanted to.

And then we came to the top of a gravel wash. I wanted to continue, but he stopped, looked up at the rippling mountainside as wind swept through the groves of trees.

"It's beautiful," he breathed. "They're like aspen from Earth…"

I didn't know what made me encourage him then, but I said to him, "those forests, they're all one tree. Some cover entire mountain ranges. When the wind blows like that… they're communicating with their counterparts across continents. It's how they know if there's an uncontrollable," I paused, "forest fire, or drought or snowstorm."

"So even though they're apart, they're really always together," Fayt said.

"It's the only way they survive," I replied softly.

Then I continued walking. "What are you waiting for? Let's get going," I snapped, but softer than I ordinarily would have.

Fayt took one single, unsteady step and lost his footing. He slipped down the wash about a foot before I caught him.

"Fayt!" I cried out without thinking. He struggled to catch onto my arm, because I had reached out with my normal hand. He pulled too forcefully, and we both lost balance.

The grove of trees at the base of the wash caught us in their trunks.

"Fayt, you—" I breathed in through clenched teeth, as I discovered the urgent rip in the skin of my thigh.

"Albel, are you hurt?"

"What does it look like," I demanded.

Up in the clearing it had been dry and hot, but here in the grove the sun came in dappled like dawn, the breeze misty as wildflowers soothed the air.

I felt Fayt's hands slip under my skirt before I'd even noticed him move.

"I can handle it myself!!" I lied as I pulled away.

"But I'm the better healer, and that looks like it'll scar if you don't heal it right!"

"What did I just tell you, fool," I seethed, turning away. Like another scar mattered, I had thought furiously at that moment.

When had my thoughts of Elicoor become fond memories?

The answer was simple: when they had become memories of Fayt.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean. I just tinker with it.

In this chapter the Church of Apris takes on a sinister role, kind of like church-like institutions tend to in certain series. I don't think anyone would be offended, but I wanted to address anyways that this isn't me subverting any of those sentiments into my work. It just makes for a good story…

Chapter 8

"So we might have found a bearer of the Alteration gene. From an undeveloped planet, of course, but if we move quickly we can get there first," the other Helgrave informed us as we gathered on the bridge. I admit, I was not used to seeing my brother in a position of true authority.

It had been my one worry. But it seemed that my real brother would be doing very well for himself and whichever country he ended up serving, Airyglyph or Aquaria.

"Apris sure doesn't know how to quit," the other Helgrave said casually with that joking-but-not-really demeanor that was instinctively my little brother's.

The Incantatrix took my side, but not that close. Her eyes noted the awkwardness between the other Fayt and myself, but wisely chose to say nothing.

"As in the Church of Apris?" I said then.

The other Helgrave nodded. "Yeah. Those… well, I'm going to be more professional than say what I'm thinking right now."

"Am I right in guessing that the Church of Apris fulfills a much more antagonistic role in the Andromeda servers than in the Milky Way servers?" the Incantatrix wanted to know.

"You couldn't be more right," he replied. "They're a pain, to say the least. And not to mention dangerous as nothing else. I don't know about what goes on in your world, but in ours, the Church of Apris is this disgustingly powerful interplanetary organization. Truth is, we almost didn't trust you because you spoke of the destruction of our world just like they do."

"I think you'll need to clarify," the other Rozalin chirped. This one was much cheerier than my own sister.

"They think that the eventual destruction of our world is a blessing from 'God'. They're not going to do anything to stop it because they believe that once our world is gone, we'll all go to Paradise," the other Fayt said with little-guarded antipathy.

"They're the reason that we're the only ones left with the Destruction gene," the other Helgrave said. "Me, Rozalin, and Sieg, wherever he is. They gather up children from all worlds predisposed with the Alteration gene, you see. And those children are raised into soldiers, soldiers who were instructed in the ethnic cleansing of the royal families of the planet Airyglyph, those who passed down the Destruction gene for generations."

"So what about the Connection gene? Where are the people who have that gene?" the Incantatrix asked casually.

It was quiet. Very, very quiet.

The other Helgrave laughed dismissively. "Are you kidding? They were the first people to be targeted by the Church of Apris because they posed the most threat to 'Paradise'. We bearers of the Destruction gene were just an afterthought."

There were no bearers of the Connection gene here.

I didn't even know I had left the bridge until the Incantatrix gripped my shoulder, turning me full around in the hallway.

"Albel, we can go to another server. I can introduce the gene there. It'll take about fifteen or twenty years for the gene to manifest and awaken, but maybe if we found a population of peoples that mature quickly—"

I brushed her aside, but stopped when I saw the vast, vacant ocean of stars.

None of them held Fayt. And none of them ever would. And neither would I.

"Albel," she said softly. I had hardly heard her follow me. "I'm sorry. I really am. The Milky Way server, it was my home too. If you want me to leave you alone right now…"

"I would like that," I said, my voice sounding so far away, even to me.

I cried. No one was there, no one saw. So that made it almost all right. I don't know how long I stood there, crying at the emptiness around me and inside.

My arms cried for him, for the one I had only spent passing moments with, it seemed. It was unkind, it was cruel. It seemed I would never repay the debt of blood I had shed on the battlefields; fate would never turn favor for Albel the Wicked.

I wanted to die. Right then, I wanted to end everything. Fifteen years, twenty, the Incantatrix had said. And all tainted with doubt. Would Fayt wait that long for me?

I didn't think he would. I wasn't worth twenty years of waiting. I wasn't even worth the time I had already taken from him. He had lied to me when he said there was nothing waiting for him on his Earth, that much I felt sure.

There was no way that for someone like him, there wasn't something, somehow waiting for him. And that something was certainly not me.

I did not deserve him. I had never deserved him. He had told me otherwise, insisted. But he had not known the truth, and now he never would.

Perhaps Helgrave would tell him. Tell him of the weakness that allowed Jason Vox to manipulate me and make me his toy, of the desperation that soaked my sword with the blood of Greetonese, of the pathetic excuse for existence my life had been, so that I could not even keep my family together, or protect the Nox name from being torn apart by petty nobles who scrabbled over the pieces when my hubris killed my father.

It seemed like an eternity had passed when someone called to me.

"Albel," Fayt said. Not the other Fayt. That wasn't what I could call him anymore. He was the only one now, the only Fayt in my life.

He wrapped his arms softly around me, just like he had that day before I had been taken away from him. He drew tight, pressed his cheek into my back for warmth. They really were the same person, after all.

No. He kissed my throat, whispered meaningless apologies when I knew he meant none of them. He wanted me; he knew I wasn't the Albel he had fallen in love with, knew that he wasn't the Fayt I had fallen in love with. When so many people were lost, such details didn't necessarily apply.

"Albel, you can't stay here like this," he murmured. "I'm not your Fayt, but I can help you. I know you. If I leave you alone, you'll only hurt yourself. I've seen enough of your blood. I don't want to see you hurt anymore."

I couldn't even tell if his words were false or true. Maybe he really did want to help me. Maybe that didn't matter either.

I let him kiss me, I let his hands wander into my hair and around my tight muscles. I caressed him in return, grasping for some semblance of the one who had been taken away from me.

"Not here," I murmured roughly as he kissed my throat. He knew what I meant.

He backed me into some door that he had opened, somehow. I didn't really consider what was happening around me.

I didn't even give much thought to what we did in that black, tight space, even though it would have meant the entire world to me, were it with my Fayt. I didn't give much thought to anything. It was as if my mind had blacked out but my body pulled itself together enough to continue.

It wasn't until he was quiet in the darkness that I realized where he had taken me. It was a storage closet, of all places. Memories of Jason Vox momentarily arrested my breath.

I gripped him tighter as he curled against my rising and falling chest. It was for fear, and when I realized this, my hands slackened. That fear was from the past, and memories were no longer important. Not anymore.

I didn't cry this time. But a silent tear fell.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean.

Well, you know what they say about distance making the heart grow fonder? Albel doesn't believe it either.

Chapter Nine

I woke up in the dark room in 4D space to find the Incantatrix logged on to the Eternal Sphere, without being fully enveloped in the game. I did not have to ask to realize she was searching through other servers.

"Incantatrix," I said then.

"You need more sleep, Albel," she said to me without even waiting for me to finish.

Like that was possible. A strange heartbeat pulsated in the walls from the next room over. The Incantatrix had assured me before that it was considered music.

"And how long have you been awake?" I retorted, but there was so little heart in it that she did not even notice the barb.

"About seventeen hours," she answered factually without batting an eye. "Listen, I know it's going to be rough, but I don't want to give up on the Andromeda servers just yet. I don't believe that the entire Connection gene has been obliterated. Don't lose hope."

It was far too late for such sentiments, so I ignored her comment. The Incantatrix's plan to continue on in the Andromeda servers suited me just fine. So did anything else she possibly had to offer, for that matter. In fact, if she had suggested then that we storm the Sphere stronghold, I would have volunteered to be the advance attack.

Perhaps I did need more sleep. Sleep did wonders for numbing the mind, after all. I had slept away most of my teenage years; why not continue?

Because were I on Airyglyph, then Helgrave would have interfered and kicked the foot of my bed and dragged me off of it like the meddling and too-involved younger brother that he was, proving like always that he was the more responsible of the two of us. Three of us.

I did not have the energy for such bitterness. Especially since I would never see that world ever again.

But isn't that what I had wanted? To say goodbye to all that I had known?

* * *

"What was your Fayt like?" Fayt asked me in the dark recesses of night.

"I…" I began, but couldn't continue. "Only if you tell me what your Albel was like," I said then.

"Albel, he…" Fayt drifted off dreamily. "I met him when I was taken aboard this ship. Sieg was still with us then, and Glou and Ephemera. My family all died in an attack by the Church of Apris. Well, it wasn't really called an attack, but… all that meant to me was that I still didn't have anywhere to go. We didn't really get along at first," he smiled sadly.

"In fact, I used to think that he hated me. It wasn't until the day he saved my life that I knew how wrong I was. We were… we were on some planet. I don't even remember its name—we used to visit so many then, before we knew how closely the Church of Apris was following us."

"I wanted to explore. Sounds childish, doesn't it," he said. "We were in the mountains. One wrong step, and I fell. He called out my name, caught me. If he hadn't… the river below was white with rapids. I don't think I would have made it."

I froze. In my world's version of this incident, I had caught Fayt; we had fallen anyways. But the river had been dry, grown over with trees. I had never realized how close we had come to a very different outcome.

"He held me close, told me he never wanted me to put myself in danger like that ever again. He said I was a fool," Fayt added, "but I knew that I had been wrong about him. And I realized that I had loved him too."

"It was hard to explain it to his parents. They were, after all, right there. But then Ephemera thought maybe it was best for Albel to love someone he couldn't have a child with. That maybe it would make him safe from the Church of Apris. That was… more than we had ever expected to hear."

"That was when I was told about the Nox family's past with the Church of Apris. Airyglyph was a peaceful planet that traded with the other planets in its system, but mostly Aquarius. One year on Aquarius there was political turmoil along with crop failure:a perfect stage for the Church of Apris to move in and start spreading their teachings."

"Even they didn't know how the war had been provoked, except that it gave the Church of Apris some political excuse to cleanse Airyglyph of those who bore the Destruction gene."

He seemed to realize how far he had strayed. "Albel was quiet. He never said much, but there was something that always bothered him. I don't think he ever got over how the Church of Apris stole his way of life away from his family. But most of that seemed to go away when he was around me. I remember the first time I heard him laugh," Fayt said, laughing a little himself.

"Glou and Ephemera said that it was the first time they had heard him laugh in a long time, too."

"We didn't know about the Creator until we came upon the planet Lethe. There was a window there, into another world. It spoke to us, warned us of a time that would come in the future, that if we continued on our course, we would face destruction. We didn't know, either, that the Church of Apris had us surrounded."

"Helgrave was the oldest, so his powers had already manifested. But Albel and Sieg—they were twins—knew they had to rush the manifestation of their abilities: they needed it to fight the Church of Apris. Sieg… he was the one to awaken. But it was so strong, so powerful, that he didn't just eliminate the Church's forces. He couldn't control it. He… he killed Albel," Fayt's voice broke.

"Glou and Ephemera also died," he added, his voice quiet. "But… Albel was everything to me. For days I wouldn't move, wouldn't eat. Finally Helgrave made me get up. My sadness… turned into anger at the Church of Apris. I learned how to use a weapon; I learned how to use several. I cut my hair; I became cold enough that I made an effective co-captain alongside Helgrave. And then… we almost found Sieg. I got this scar in the explosion that followed. I don't know when I started blaming Sieg for Albel's death. But… you're here now. I want… I want to know what type of person I was to you."

"My Fayt carried the Destruction gene. He was annoying, immature, and too idealistic. But I…"

I couldn't say any more. Nothing would come. Nothing of what I knew about his past, nothing about the time we had spent together on Elicoor. My mind refused to speak, refused to let me into the part of my memory that it felt sure would hurt me to unlock again.

Trying to picture Fayt, I only envisioned a foggy rearrangement of the young man in front of me.

"Hey, I thought we had an agreement," Fayt laughed sadly in light of the cold silence that followed. But then he shifted, and talking was no longer necessary.

As he kissed my skin, I felt no need to shudder away. There were no scars to hide, not with this new body that this world had given me. They were so deep that no one could even see them.

Maybe this was a better world than the one that I had left behind.

No.

I couldn't think that. Those precarious thoughts had led me down the very same path that almost killed me once before, and I had very nearly taken Fayt along with me. The Incantatrix, as demanding and annoying as even she knew she was, was right in refusing to give up.

Not that I would ever tell her.

I pulled away from this other Fayt. He looked taken aback, but I kissed him too quickly for him to protest. "Goodbye," I told him. I sounded cold, and I knew it perfectly well. But I didn't feel bad—I wasn't his Albel.

"Good…goodbye?" he stammered.

"I won't be here much longer," I informed him, and drew myself to my feet. It was time to stop this ridiculous charade. I would either be with my Fayt, or else I wouldn't.

_What are you doing?! _The voice that had been so quiet, so pleased, raged viciously inside of me. I hadn't realized how much I had allowed it to take control.

"Or, rather, _I _won't be," I added. "When I'm gone, this body will remain behind. There's someone else in here besides me, I'll have you know. He would be more than happy to be with you again, without having anyone else in the way."

Those creators, those who worked with Luther, didn't have nearly as much mastery over their worlds as they wanted to believe. Even the Incantatrix, with all her powers, could do no more for me than revive that other Albel and subdue his will, allowing me to momentarily inhabit his body.

It certainly said something about the weakness of those who pretended to be gods, when all they could do was pull their puppets' strings and pray they never broke.

I wasn't sure if this other me would have done the same for me if in my position, but that was just the difference between this world and my own. How arrogant was the Engineer to think that she had any power over whether I lived or died, or where I continued the rest of my days?

I sorely wanted to test the relative immortality of the Engineer. I had already killed the Kriegsbringer. If she would surrender and leave my life alone without dying, then she was smarter than she used to be. She should have known to never cross Albel the Wicked.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean.

Sorry for the delay! It seems that summer creates writer's block for me. Not fun… not fun at all.

Chapter Ten

"Leingod, you need a haircut," Helgrave commented as the hours he spent standing on the bridge wore on his patience. It took three days to travel to the planet that Helgrave had briefly mentioned, and the tension in the air was so tangible I could slice it with my gauntlet.

The Incantatrix had returned to my side, after my brief interlude with the other Fayt. It was as if she had taken it upon herself to be a constant reminder of the Milky Way galaxy, to the others, that we both called home. That's what it was, after all.

I never brought it up, but I was thankful. She knew that already, which was why it was never discussed—we never had to. Her confrontational nature made it easy for the other Fayt to have nothing to do with me while I was still myself.

But I could tell by the way that he looked at me, that he was waiting, and rather impatiently, for me to vacate this body and allow the other Albel to return into the other Fayt's life. The other me, for that matter, was grudgingly silent as well.

Which was good. It was enough to have to listen to myself. No need for there to be an obstinate echo.

"Entering Klausia IV airspace," Maria Traydor, only a girl working on the bridge and nothing more, reported sharply.

The Klausians were backwards race in this world? I smiled with superiority at the thought. I could barely wait to tell Cliff.

"Captain, there's something really unpleasant that you should know," Maria continued.

Helgrave issued a pained, melodramatic sigh as he settled heavily into the chair beside her. "Go ahead, tell me now," he said resignedly. But I could tell he wasn't really bothered. In the reflection of his eyes, he was already thinking ahead to the next move.

Unless it was only calculated despair.

Which meant that my Helgrave wasn't as capable as I had wanted to think. Perhaps the burden I had left for him was too much for him to bear alone.

"It's a trap," Helgrave breathed. "We just flew into a trap…"

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

He looked up at me, then at the rest of the bridge. That's when my double flashed onto the main screen.

"Sieg!!" Helgrave cried out. "You're… what are you doing with Apris?!"

It was my otherworldly twin. Standing behind him was an entire array of officials, clothed in a variation of the familiar robes of Apris. Sphere didn't seem to have much of an imagination. But there was little time for frivolity, I chastised myself. I couldn't scoff at the Church of Apris in this existence like I did on my home world—at least, not yet.

"Good morning, Helgrave. It is morning, now, isn't it? I thought it would be easier for you to bear if I were the one to announce that you're under arrest for rebellious activities against the Church of Apris."

"The Church of Apris isn't the Federation," Helgrave said, eyes narrowed.

"But their organization is approved by the Federation, unlike yours. Therefore, certain protections are extended."

"The Federation would never approve the Church of Apris!! Or did they forget the xenocide of an entire species, namely, ours?"

"Forgiven. What the Church of Apris did was cruel, but necessary. The Federation offers condolences for the sorrow that Apris must bear, with the blood of an entire people on its hands."

"Who in hell came up with that? And how can you even say it to my face?!" Helgrave roared.

Sieg glared coldly. "I went to Apris because while they offered me comfort for Albel and Father and Mother's deaths, you only offered me shame. No, you never said anything. But I could see it in your eyes, in Rozalin's, in Fayt's. There would be no forgiveness there, not ever."

"That's not true, and you know it!!" Helgrave shouted in desperate reply.

"I know," Sieg said softly. "I… that's what I wanted to be true. Helgrave, if you surrender, the Church of Apris won't kill you. Won't kill any of us. They promised me, if I helped them find you, that they would only terminate the Destruction gene. They can do that now, with the Acolytes that bear the Alteration gene. You'll all live, and you won't have to run from the Church, not ever again."

"How do I know you're telling the truth? Prove to me you're not the Church's pawn!"

"They did it to me, Helgrave. If I kept our curse, then I would have been their tool. Without it, I am simply another follower of Apris, determined to save his family."

"The only people we need saving from is your Church," Helgrave muttered to himself.

"I'm making this decision for you, Helgrave. I'm saving our family, and we're boarding your ship. You always were the irrational one. How you survived as long as you did, I don't think anyone can explain. I'm making the right decision, Helgrave. It's time for the curse of our planet to end."

"And then we'll all die when the Creator comes! Look behind me—an emissary from the Creator's world has come to me! That day is sooner than any of us thought!!" Helgrave said, and the Incantatrix objected.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" she shouted at him. "Answer me, Helgrave!!"

Helgrave didn't have to answer. I knew what was going on. "He wants to offer you to the Church of Apris, hoping the whole complicated process will give him time to save his own people. I'm know I'm right. I know how you think, Helgrave. Always looking to save those closest to you first, the rest be damned."

"What are you talking about? You're one of us," Helgrave said in faded astonishment, as he turned towards me.

"Albel?" my echo said softly, his voice a scarred breath, as his shaking gaze passed from the Incantatrix. "No, you're…"

"Stop wasting time," another voice said offscreen. A voice that triggered a memory of sorts. It was familiar, but I couldn't recall thinking upon it kindly.

And then the other Sieg was pushed out of the frame, to be replaced by a smug-looking official. "I'd advise you all to stay where you are."

But Sieg's voice continued even though he was no longer visible. "No, you don't understand, that's my brother, that's…"

"This is a moment of weakness!!" this official roared at him. "Place your faith in Apris and look beyond this false apparition! Your brother Albel is dead, murdered by the very power that we have so graciously removed! Remember that and seek the truth until you can see it with your own eyes."

"Campion," I said aloud. I couldn't help it. I was too amazed by the fact that I had even remembered his name. It was the one Vendeeni that the Engineer had been dealing with on that meeting. That was so long ago.

Don't worry, Fayt, I thought. I didn't know what was happening in my world, and I had next to no idea what I would do to get there or how I would even escape this inconvenient predicament, but there had always been a way, and it was never that hard once I stumbled upon the solution. I just had to wait for the answer to present itself and take it into my own hands.

"How do you know him?" Helgrave demanded softly, as if we were friendly enough to forget the entire matter of trading the Incantatrix away. Which we weren't, so I didn't bother to reply. He only considered me because of my physical form. I wasn't sure if the details about my curious existence had been relayed to him or not, but I'm sure he had some impression of what the other Fayt was waiting for.

"An emissary of the Creator's world," this Campion said, his voice oily with greed.

The Incantatrix was my only possible chance to see Fayt again. I stepped in front of her, guarding her from his view. Perhaps that made me as bad as this world's Helgrave. But I wasn't this world's Helgrave, and I had my own goals and desires to fulfill; I couldn't afford to give charity to anyone else's dreams.

Unlike how Fayt used to be, I wasn't going to pretend that I had any grander ideals. I didn't care about this world, not really. I'm sure that the Incantatrix did, at least a little. And that suited me perfectly fine. I wasn't trying to be a hero. If that made me someone's villain, well, that wasn't exactly anything new. For an eternity I had been Albel the Wicked. I was used to it. It didn't break my heart in the slightest.

Around me, chaos continued as Helgrave verbally jousted with Campion.

So I listened to the Incantatrix as she muttered her plan to me, under her breath. "They have bearers of the Alteration gene with them," she said to me. "With one of them, we can give the Connection gene to someone. Someone who will work with us. What about Fayt? I'm sure he would be glad to see you gone."

"I love how you make that sound so easy," I said. Then she whacked me on the shoulder.

"Don't say anything! They can see your lips move. When I give the word, draw your gauntlet on Fayt. It'll be the most surprising. I'll get the rest of the bridge with symbology. We're going to pretend to be betrayers. I'm sure Campion will be intelligent enough to play along. You ready? Go!"

I moved, fast as the most agile of my soldiers. I had the other Fayt's throat between my forefinger and thumb in one second. Simultaneously, the Incantatrix had cast a haunting cloud of symbology; it snared and paralyzed the entire bridge in place.

I tried not to look at the other Fayt. I let the Incantatrix do the talking. Ambivalence was so painful sometimes.

"Representative of Apris," she said in a grand voice that had obviously required practice. It sounded haughty and pompous in false arrogance that even I could never hope to achieve when I had been on the battlefield. "You have done well. I come to aid you in bringing about your universe's people's ascension into Paradise," she addressed to the entire room.

There was betrayed pain in Fayt's eyes. I wanted to tell him I was sorry, that what we were doing would actually help him, since it would allow me to leave that much sooner.

"I request that you come to this ship immediately. We have much to talk about, and with such joyous events yet to come, we have no time to waste. Bring with you one who has been blessed with the ability of Alteration."

"What do you plan to do with those around you who have been cursed with the powers of Destruction?"

"Why, kill them of course," she said, with a laugh.

The other Fayt flinched. Then I looked at him. "Don't worry," I mouthed. I looked him in the eye, and the peace that settled into his gaze assured me that he understood.

"What are you getting his hopes up for?" the Incantatrix said maliciously as Campion phased into the bridge—alone.

My face paled. If this was all part of an act, then what was the Incantatrix doing? If I was at least half as sneaky as her—which I certainly was—then I could see no logic in her words.

"Emissary of the Creator, I thought it would be best to bring the most trusted acolyte bearing the Alteration along—myself," that worm Campion said, his every motion an attempt to curry favor.

The Incantatrix smiled. "All right. Take the false Nox and change the genes within him from Destruction to Connection. If you really bear the Alteration gene, then it should be easy."

"What?" I demanded.

Then Incantatrix ignored me momentarily, because Helgrave had shouted out something indistinguishable.

"Oh, stop," the Incantatrix said. She twisted her wrist, and the paralysis she inflicted upon the bridge became something much more fatal.

The other Fayt and I were the only ones left breathing.

"Actually," she said, "no, don't use the fake Albel. We'll want someone who can utilize the Destruction gene, and I just killed the others. Change the genes within Fayt Leingod. Albel, you should know better than to believe half of what people tell you. Especially in respect to those who worked for the Creator. Luther and I had our differences, but in the end… we were more alike than not. His name deserves better than this."

The Incantatrix had betrayed me. She had every intention of finding the Connection gene, but only to get back to my world and rejoin with the Engineer and the Justice.

No. I wouldn't let her win. I wouldn't let her return to my world, I wouldn't let her be one more thing keeping Fayt from me.

I released the other Fayt so that she would not notice. It was a perfect time for me to remember that the Incantatrix's connection to this online world went deeper than mine. With luck, she would not even notice.

I gathered myself into the perfect image of frozen shock, of betrayed petrification. And then I pulled myself away from this world, without logging off, as she had called it.

One last time I looked at the dirty 4D room, dark and writhing in wires. I took my gauntlet and drew a crimson line across the real Incantatrix's breathing throat.

Then I looked down at myself. My consciousness would continue to live on inside the world in which I belonged. And I had no intention of ever returning here, after utilizing the Connection and Alteration gene like I planned to. If what I wanted to happen would work. If.

I couldn't allow my body to remain here for Sphere to find, not a living one. So I drew rivers into my arms and then returned to the online reality that was my true home. I had minutes.

And I was right. The Incantatrix had not even realized yet that offline she was dying, so wrapped up in her delusion she was. But I saw the other Fayt writhing on the floor in pain. I had never seen Sophia in that pain, but I knew what it was.

The sight triggered something inside of me that I had not felt since I thought I held the dead body of my lover in my arms.

But this Fayt was not dead.

I barely heard him as my vision filled with the symbology I recognized as the shattering power of Destruction.

"I love you," I heard him. He must have shouted it, but to me it was only a whisper. "I want to be with you forever… even if that Fayt isn't me."

The pain and eclipse of power engulfed me, but I only half noticed it. The other Fayt's arms had wrapped around me. He wasn't my Fayt—he would not be protected from Destruction's fires. I think he knew that.

Suddenly I remembered what the Incantatrix had told me once, if I wanted to believe it. That Destruction was the only power to sever Connection's ties.

Perhaps I was less selfish than I thought. I prayed that my efforts would be enough, to save this world as well as my own.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean.

Sorry for allowing the Incantatrix to pull a fast one, guys. But it makes sense after this chapter (in Albel logic). This weekend I learned that it is, in fact, impossible to write during convention downtime, at least when it's so hot. Please read and review!

Chapter Eleven

"Albel?"

I heard someone's voice call my name. A woman's. Maria's. Not Fayt's. I opened my eyes and saw the familiar tinny interior of the _Diplo_. How was I even alive?

"What the hell happened?" Maria asked, quite out of character. I blinked, and gathered myself into a sitting position. Dark circles had gathered under her eyes like clouds.

Fayt wasn't here. I suppose that it was more than I could have hoped for, after… after cheating on him. It sounded ridiculous, that word. Childish. But shame was the least I had to accept for punishment.

"Where's Fayt?" I wanted to know.

She looked at me. "He's not here," she said stiffly.

"What do you mean 'he's not here'?" I demanded. My voice roared.

"Don't yell at me, all right?!" she threw at me in sharp retort. "Maybe if you had been here, then he wouldn't have given himself up to the Vendeeni and the Engineer!!"

It she had meant to silence me, then she was more than successful.

She opened her mouth to add more, but then for some reason decided otherwise. Instead, she pressed her lips tight and pulled out a sheet of paper, folded into quarters.

"It's for you," she practically spat, and then turned on her heel and left in a storm.

I waited a moment before taking the square of paper that she had left on the bedside table. It wasn't from Fayt. It was from the Incantatrix. It must have been written before the entire disaster with the Andromeda server.

_Albel:_

_It offends me how residents of 4D space believe they can manipulate your people like puppets. Please forgive me for taking part in the same actions I so despise._

_If you're reading this, then it means that you're alive and safe, and I'm dead. If you're reading this and I'm not dead, then I have some explaining to do. Not that I don't anyways, but I would be doing so in person. I wish to apologize for lying to you: I did have enough time to warn people of what happened to you when the Engineer took you away, and I wasted that time writing this instead. Because I knew in that instant what I wanted and needed to do, and you deserve an explanation, if not much more. The case of the Andromeda servers has been known to me for quite a while. That's why I will choose that world for us to go to in search of a Connection gene. I also knew, for quite a while, the flaw in your power over the Destruction gene: you cannot use it in self-defense, only in defense of Fayt Leingod. That power, ironically, was born of your love for him, and it also explains why he will never be harmed by your Destruction's fires. _

_The Andromeda server was designed as a companion server to the Milky Way servers. Much like there are two sides to every story, Luther requested that the Engineer create an alternate version of some events and peoples in the Milky Way server. Namely, your Elicoor. I say this because even though I have a very good idea as to how the rest of my time will play out, the one thing I cannot predict is how much you will find out about the world that might have been yours._

_In the other Airyglyph, there is no war, there are no dragons. Your family is well, and healthy. You are the twin of Sieg, who is not the laconic younger brother that you knew, and Helgrave was born with a greater sense of responsibility than in your world. The other Albel could never possibly know the weight of the burden that you bear every day. _

_But now that I think about it, you don't really care about something like that. It's not your life, after all, as much as I'm sure that you sometimes wish it could have been. And coming from a life like that, you never would have grown up to be yourself. And you do have some redeeming qualities. But you freed the Andromeda server when you returned here. As I will say, it takes Destruction's power to sever Connection's ties. Now that universe will never know the strife that yours has. _

_Could I have done it without provoking my own death? Certainly. But sometime in 4D space I'll tell you that we're really the same person. Or we were. I wanted death, and I knew how to get it. I had nothing to live for, and you know it. I could not return to 4D space—not that I ever desired to—and I could hardly remain in the worlds of 4D's creation. I saw in your eyes hate for your Creator every time you looked at me. Something like that can never be erased._

_And anyways, you're not the same person we used to be. You have someone to live for. If you let go of him, then you're a fool. I did this for you, after all. Something I wanted to tell you: the Engineer may have designed your physical form after the Kriegsbringer, but she designed your personality after me. Feel free to think of me as the annoying older sister your parents spared you from. I don't look old enough to be your mother._

_Much love or something like it,_

_The Incantatrix_

_P.S. The Engineer has a weakness. Just because she's good at trickery doesn't mean she can't fall for it. The Engineer used to love both the Lover and the Kriegsbringer, who as I'm sure you can tell are identical twins. Just wear long sleeves._

I folded the letter carefully into quarters. It seemed I had a decision to make: do I put my faith in the Incantatrix one last time, or do I believe that she was a traitor through and through?

No. Then all of the beings from 4D space would betray us. And two of their number, the Metaphysicist and the Historian, had already died for our sake. If nothing else, the slaying of their Kriegsbringer should have been enough to incur someone's wrath besides the Engineer's, particularly since the Lover was his twin brother.

I chose to believe that those from 4D space were honestly trying to help us. Funny. I had spent so much time refusing to consider that there were higher beings looking out for us.

You win, Aquaria.

I knew that the Lover didn't wear his hair like I did, but it was just as long. I would have to pay him a visit. My Glyphian clothes would never do. Oh, and I should probably tell Maria what I was scheming.

As I left the room, I attempted desperately to ignore the infecting possibility that there might not be a Fayt left alive to rescue.

* * *

Naturally, Maria had not been happy to hear that one more member of her crew just decided to give themselves up willingly for our common cause. I hadn't realized how much the loss of Fayt could affect other people, so wrapped up I was in my own wanting.

I would not have to pretend to be the Lover for long. Which was good, since I could not hope to replicate any of the Lover's abilities as one of Luther's subordinates.

So much deception.

It was too much of what I was used to and not nearly enough of what I wanted for myself when I had left my world behind for Fayt. But I had become so good at fooling Airyglyph, I might as well put some of that expertise to good use.

Masquerading as the Lover was easy. After a few physical changes—and the previously recommended long sleeves, to hide my signature scars—all I had to do was act like Helgrave. I hoped that the damage wouldn't be permanent.

And I wondered about him, again. My brother had been cropping up in my thoughts more and more. No, it wasn't really Helgrave. It was my world that I was thinking of. Worrying about.

My world was Fayt now, I reminded myself. An entire sphere of earth and oceans, cast away for something so small. A single person. No different, really, from swearing my loyalty to the crown. But after that, it was very, very different. Love went far deeper than sworn loyalty. It was complete and absolute.

I tried to convince myself that my actions had not violated that perfection.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean.

To make up for my lack of regular updates, I've decided to make this one and the next one double updates. Have fun! Please read and review.

Chapter Twelve

Fayt. Looking quite unharmed, sitting there in the bridge of the Vendeeni starship. But he would not look up, he would not speak. My annoying, obstinate Fayt would not even muster the energy to check the identity of the one who had just walked in. I had been gone for so long, that he had given up on me. No, that couldn't have been it. I refused to allow myself to think in that pathetic manner any longer. He must have been drugged.

It was a neutral location upon which we were meeting, even though I was masquerading as a friend; the ship rested on the verdant earth of some anonymous planet.

"Lover," the Engineer purred, slipping her hand into mine. I allowed her to take a kiss from my cheek as I looked beyond her to what I prized most. Did he see me, did he know that it was me and not the Lover? Was he even coherent enough to understand his surroundings?

Then I looked at the Engineer. And I saw something that I had never seen before. Perhaps it was the time I spent with the Incantatrix, but I saw something deeper inside those eyes than just an enemy to defeat. What could motivate these people to manipulate my world?

Was it boredom? That had been a favorite excuse of mine, as Captain of the Black Brigade. But that was just an excuse, and nothing more. I had seen the world that these people had to call home, that other existence named 4D space. That was not even a real name. It was an identification, a number, but not a name. It had neither presence nor soul.

The place that these 4D residents were forced to call home was as empty as the clear-paned floors that they had to rely upon instead of a living, breathing earth. How long had their world been like that? Surely they must have sometime been born from the ground. Faced with that pathetic excuse for existence, which one of them would not be able to resist the temptation to build something substantial and real? Which one of them would be able to pull away from their creation once they looked upon their reality and found it so wanting that they would sooner bide their time in fantasy?

"What do you plan to do with him," I said.

"Hmm. I don't know. He seems to give off his power at random. The other one is much more reliable, and it's in our best interest to keep this one around. Want to know why?"

I was hardly listening to her chatter; I was focusing all my thoughts on trying to pick up the sound of Fayt's breathing.

How much time had passed since I had first seen him like this, tortured and weary? That first time he had been Airyglyph's prisoner; my country had wanted to exploit him for his supposed Greetonese engineering knowledge. Now he was the possession of the Engineer and these creeping worms the Vendeeni, who desired the curse he had been born carrying.

Time and distance. It separated that first moment from now. It had separated us from each other. But while I had closed the distance, nothing could take back the moments I had allowed to slip away.

And who knew what would happen in the next few seconds, minutes, hours. Whether he would be taken from me, whether I would see him ever again. Whether I would have to search the shadows of the stars hoping for a shred of a chance to see him again.

No. I wouldn't allow time to take me any further from him. I wouldn't allow myself to be satisfied with memory, with taking his face and voice only in my heart and never in my sight.

Enough of disguises and trickery. That was my Fayt that they were holding from me.

These were the very same Vendeeni that would have killed him so long ago, when I had barely known how precious the boy would become to me, when I had thrown myself in front of him on a whim, an instinct that he was something so much more.

It was what my power needed. A reason, something that my bloodlust had lacked. That was the difference between a murderer and a knight.

I blinked away the dazed rush that clouded my head. Reality slipped sideways, then righted itself. Funny. The power was typically so powerful that it knocked Fayt unconscious. But here I was.

And so were the survivors. Ah, that explained it. Not enough to annihilate, not completely. I thought about it, and realized that I preferred that. I always had my sword and my claw if I needed to finish the job, after all.

"So you really have yourselves to thank," I said placidly to the remaining Vendeeni. Among them was that upstart Campion. I smiled. Perhaps that had been no accident.

"Biwig at least had the sense to die."

This entire time I had been missing the necessary element to trigger my destructive abilities. It made sense, when I thought about it. Fayt, distressed by how I had very nearly sacrificed my life for his, inadvertently granted me this power when he watched over me. So it was only logical that I could only trigger the power when I feared for Fayt's life.

But there was no need to abuse it.

"I'll let your authorities decide your punishment," I decided. Suddenly, I wasn't particularly interested in staining my sword with their blood. I had what I wanted. That was more than enough.

"Fayt," I said then, dropping to my knees as I pushed back the hair that had fallen in front of his face. I barely heard Maria and the others move about around me. They must have been watching my moves from afar, knowing the exact instant to invade and take control. Strange how quickly my world had shrunk. "Fayt, can you hear me?"

And then.

Then I froze.

Whether because of the debris or some cruel blow inflicted upon him in my absence, an ugly scar drew jagged across Fayt's features.

And suddenly I wasn't holding my Fayt anymore; I was holding the other Fayt, the one who I had led on, the mockery for whom I abandoned the one I loved. The one who I had lied to, the one who believed that I held his true lover captive as long as I existed in his world and was waiting for me to leave. The one who had died so that I could be here right now.

I shudder to think what might have happened if Fayt had been conscious when I recoiled from him.

I couldn't look at him. Even seeing his face was enough to remind me of my betrayal. It was so pathetic that I allowed Cliff, of all people, to carry my haunting shadow back to the _Diplo_. And all I did was look on, apart and removed from everyone else.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean.

As the summer wraps up, so does Time After. This is the second-to-last chapter!!

Chapter Thirteen

For the longest time, I didn't have the courage to actually speak to Fayt. But he cornered me on the _Diplo, _and there was nothing I could say or do to escape him.

"Albel, what's going on?" he insisted, staring me down. "Why won't you talk to me? Did I… did I do something?"

I couldn't bear to look at the guilty expression he had on his face. How could he even think that it was something that he had done? How could he assume that he was to blame, that he was the imperfect one of the two of us?

"What was I supposed to do?" I demanded. "I didn't think I'd ever come back," I said, my voice suddenly refusing to support itself.

I watched in sickening horror as Fayt deciphered what I had just said to him. He visibly flinched. As if I had struck him.

"Wait, you," he stammered, "you cheated on me," he said. It wasn't a question. "I'm right, aren't I?"

I didn't say anything to affirm this. I didn't say anything to deny it. I just watched his expression break.

"Albel, I… I can't…" He turned away from me. "You understand, right? I just, I just have some things to think over, right now…"

And then he was gone.

When I looked down at my hands, I realized that nothing had really changed. I was still half-monster, and the other half of me—my veins, my arteries—still cried out for the glint of steel.

Had I ever really loved Fayt, then? I had certainly replaced him easily enough. Maybe it wasn't numbness, after all, that kept my heart from breaking. Maybe I just didn't feel anything at all in the first place.

So I had used him. Instead of Fayt, it was the consolation that his love had given.

That night, I had the nightmare. The old nightmare that I had never feared since Fayt had welcomed me into his arms.

The fires of the Marquis still haunted me as I woke up in a cold sweat. Alone, no one would have heard my screams. No one would have cared.

Then I knew what I had to do. So even though it was so late it was early, I dressed, I took everything with me that I needed. Which wasn't anything, really. Just my sword.

I knew then that for all of the Incantatrix's talk of home, home was not necessarily a place. It was where one's heart was at peace with its mind. Enough of war. It was time to make peace.

Maria was not happy to see me so early in the morning, so I didn't waste time with trivialities and small talk. "I need to go home," I said as soon as she glared at me from her just-open door.

"Where's Fayt," she asked groggily.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Only me. I have unfinished business. Either it won't take long, or I won't return."

She seemed to think of something to say, only to change her mind immediately. "I think we can barely transport you from here. Where do you need to go?"

"The Barr Mountains," I said simply. "Or, more specifically, the den of the Marquis."

She pulled on a coat notably similar to the one she typically wore, then trudged listlessly out the door, muttering something under her breath about me being so demanding. It made me realize that I had missed her, if only a little.

But then time skipped ahead of itself, and I found myself in the transporter room with Maria looking blankly at me from the other side of the control panel.

"What's this all about, Albel," she wanted to know.

"I'm just taking care of something I should have taken care of a long time ago."

She didn't reply. She just looked at me. "You're not… you're not coming back, are you?" she said then.

I blinked. "I have every intention of returning," I responded.

She didn't seem to think my word was enough for confirmation. She shook her head, sighed, and focused her gaze, now heavy, on the control panel. "Heartbreaker," she told me then.

I was not the fourteen-year old boy I had been when I last walked into the Marquis's cave with the same intent. I was no longer the unscarred child that had every glory of his family behind him, and the illusion of so much ahead.

Where there had once been hubris, there was now confidence in my abilities and proof that I was a warrior in body and soul. I had fought for Airyglyph against invading armies when even Airyglyph itself did not want me. I faced my fear of the Marquis for the greater good of Airyglyph, and then journeyed across the stars for all of everything. And then I had ventured beyond those stars to save everything again.

Here I was. I still knew the dragon songs, like I had more than ten years ago. I barely remembered then that the reason I knew them so well now was that I had to teach them to Fayt a short while ago.

But when I came to the guardian, he did not attack. He simply nodded his head and let me pass by. I returned the gesture with equal thanks.

This time, there was no one to encourage me, to step back and acknowledge that this was my battle to fight, my rite of passage that had gone long without completion. The entire planet stood as testament.

"What are you doing here, young one?" the Marquis said to me. He had not been away, and he had not been asleep. Perhaps something inside him had known that I was coming.

I answered him in the ancient tongue of dragons. "I bid you, great dragon Crosell, Marquis and sire of all of the Airyglyph dragons, to accept me as your rider. I know that you said that you would have earlier, but I understand if your judgment has changed, great dragon."

When the Marquis said nothing, I continued. I drew my sword: the Crimson Scourge. The Marquis noted it well.

"I offer you a warrior's blood," I said. I had expected my voice to begin shaking, truthfully. Memories were hard to overcome.

He shook the earth under my feet as he drew closer. And he nudged my arm away.

"You've bled too much for Airyglyph already," he said, shaking his head. "Kings have knelt at my feet, mages have come with treasures. They have all been turned away. The promise I saw within you more than a decade ago has turned into truth. Arzei will be surprised," the Marquis said amusedly, and it occurred to me that he had accepted.

I had completed the Accession of Flame.

"Would you want to be telling him immediately, then?" the Marquis said.

I never returned. I never told Fayt goodbye.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean.

Chapter Fourteen

Four years ago I realized that I was hiding behind my adventure into the stars, so that I would never have to stare my past and future in the face. Four years ago I returned to Airyglyph, and finally regained my birthright as both the captain of the Dragon Brigade and the representative of House Sylphide in the Aquarian Circle of Voices.

Now there is no Airyglyph, there is no Aquaria, apart from name. There are many Glyphians who revived their faith in Apris, and many Aquarians who renewed their interest in the natural resources of Airyglyph to build, not conquer. And there are many of both who chose the same path as Helgrave and Nel, and married.

There have been no disturbances from 4D space, and the Mosel Ruins have stayed just that, ruins. There has been war. There will always be war. But we are not as cruel as we would have been before our alliance with Aquaria. Who would have known that the dreaded Albel the Wicked could become a peacekeeper? Although, the Marquis is admittedly a daunting presence on the battlefield. Many surrenders have been announced because of him.

Which was the source of my current confusion: how was I to draw up a treaty for Sanmite from Kirlsa? I would have to journey there, I suspected. Why Arzei had not simply told me this from the start was beyond me; likely Queen Elena had the sense to suggest it, though.

But perhaps I could spend five minutes idling. The sky over Kirlsa was beautiful, though it was day. It showed the sun and the clouds, not the stars.

The door to my rooms opened. Only two people were allowed access to my rooms personally: Helgrave and Arzei. And both had the sense to not get offended if I did not look their way immediately. They knew I was listening.

"Four years ago I went home and finished school and did what I could to help rebuild Earth. I did a pretty good job, if I may say so myself. Then two weeks ago I saw someone on Earth who looked like you. That's when I knew my place was here. Sorry if you don't agree with that, but the merchant carrier I bribed to let me down here didn't feel like sticking around long enough for the Federation to arrest them for illegal contact with an underdeveloped planet. Oh, yeah. Those guys from 4D space are still chilling out, for better or worse."

I realized that I was holding my breath inside of myself. "Fayt?" I said to the empty air, the word rusted from neglect in my throat. I turned around, and couldn't say anything.

"It's okay, I know you're speechless because of my good looks," he shrugged easily, wearing a weary smile. Even as he said this, he was somehow solemn. But he looked the same. Older, but the same.

He stepped forward, the look in his eyes so fierce that when he sighed, it was nearly a moan.

"You're still as handsome as I remember you," Fayt nearly whispered.

"And you're still as persistent," I slowly replied. The words came far easier than I thought they ever would. For the first two years, I had played this scene over and over in my head with none of this reality's ease. After my infuriation with my inadequate recreations, I had given up.

"Can you blame me?" Fayt responded. "I just… I'm sorry if I came too late. You seem…"

"There's no one else, if that's what you're delicately stepping around. There never was," I said. And it was the truth.

"I know," Fayt admitted. He looked around the room, for what I could not tell, then I realized it was a chair he was seeking. But he disdainfully ignored the other chair apart from the one I was now sitting in, and walked around to me as if it was the most natural thing in the world to him.

Then he sat on the floor and rested his head against the slit of my skirt.

"I'd like to apologize to Albel the Wicked, if he's still in there. I used him to escape from my responsibilities as a student and as an adult, and pretty much as a member of the human race. I went back to Earth to see if I could get rid of all that, to see if… if after… if I still loved you."

"I do love you," he said then, turning his head to look up at me. "Albel, if I did something back then to make you want someone else—"

Then I understood. "You blame yourself for the reason that I left," I said in subdued amazement.

"Well, actually, I just wanted to say 'too bad', because you got me instead," he said. Then he bolted up suddenly, impulsively, his palms grinding into my knees as he leaned close. "Can I kiss you?"

But of course, he didn't wait for a reply. He knew he didn't need to.

"You know what this means now, right," Fayt said to me with a sideways smile, as the need for breath momentarily pulled us from each other.

"Tell me."

"We'll have to make up for lost time."

THE END


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